Former NWO rivals now ‘best friends’ try for Final Four

Nigel Hayes said his University of Wisconsin teammate Vitto Brown has a unique skill that has nothing to do with basketball.

“He always goes to sleep with his phone in his hand, mid-text, then wakes up and finishes the text,” Hayes said. “Then he drops the phone and goes back to sleep. I’ve seen him do it at least 50 times.”

Whitmer High School graduate Nigel Hayes along with University of Wisconsin teammate Vitto brown, a bowling green high school graduate, are part of the No. 1-ranked Badgers squad headed to the NCAA tournament. Photo Courtesy University of Wisconsin Athletics

Hayes also has a non-hoops gift: visit YouTube and search, “Nigel Burgundy Hayes,” where he playfully channels Will Ferrell’s “Anchorman” character.

Both Hayes and Brown play on Wisconsin’s men’s basketball team, solidly poised to make another deep run in this year’s NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed.

Both Hayes and Brown proudly hail from Northwest Ohio high schools, Whitmer and Bowling Green, respectively, where they perfected their trade amid hotbeds of hardwood talent. Sharing more than locale — and a dorm room as freshmen — they’re both sophomore forwards, and measure the same height and weight (6 feet 8 inches, 235 pounds).

Neither considered playing locally, although Brown received his first offer from Bowling Green State University during his freshman year. He also turned down Ohio State. Hayes looked at Stanford, Ohio State and Minnesota before eventually choosing Wisconsin.

It must have been the forces of basketball destiny which brought them together as teammates some six hours away, because they hardly considered themselves friends while playing on separate Amateur Athletic Union teams here in the area.

“We were actually rivals to be honest,” Brown said. “We always seemed to meet in games. If there was one player I didn’t like, it was him. Even though we didn’t like each other at the time, we became best friends here.”

Brown said he learned some of Hayes’ tricks that referees didn’t notice back then, and applied them to his game.

A rigorous schedule usually keeps them away from home, but both have training routines when they do return. Brown works out with his family, which includes a brother who plays basketball at The College of Wooster. Hayes still looks up his high school mentor Bruce Smith, who coached for 22 seasons at Whitmer, and now coaches at Sylvania Southview.

“[Smith] is the reason I am who I am today,” Hayes said.

“[Hayes is] definitely the best player I’ve coached,” Smith said. “As a whole package, it’s not even close. He’s the best guy that I’ve ever had. I wish there were a few more like him. Guys like him make you a better coach than you are.”

Hayes draws similarities between Smith and his current coach, “Bo” Ryan.

“[Ryan] is just like Bruce Smith from Southview,” Hayes said. “Whatever you say for Bruce Smith goes for William Francis Ryan.”

Smith said Hayes isn’t home much, but they text two or three times a week.

“He knows I’ll let him in the gym,” Smith said. “We have a great relationship. He knows I’m in his corner. He’s not one of those guys that has to bring an entourage [to work out]. He wants to turn his weaknesses into strengths. He’s very tunnel-vision into what he wants to accomplish, and he wants to be an NBA player.”

As a No. 1 seed, Wisconsin has a strong chance to make a return trip to the Final Four, having lost to Kentucky in last year’s national semifinal game.

“I know we have the ability to, and it would also be good to have that rematch with Kentucky,” Brown said.

Being three states away hasn’t made them homesick, especially living in a vibrant town like Madison, but they do miss family — who only make about five games a year — and friends, and Hayes particularly misses Gino’s Pizza.

Some consider Hayes, last year’s Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, an NBA prospect, and perhaps Brown in time, but both are planning for life after basketball. Hayes wants to work for Nike, or start his own casual and dress clothing company. Brown is majoring in broadcast journalism, and may pursue a music career. Brown and his family even have their own group, Shades of Brown, that has performed the National Anthem at the team’s home, the Kohl Center, twice.

For now, the Badgers are depending on the Northwest Ohio duo to help them advance in the Big Dance. Hayes has started all 29 games and averages 12.1 points per game with 6.3 rebounds per game. Brown has started 28 games and averages 2.1 points per game.

So, as great as their sleep-texting and celebrity impressions might be, their on-the-court contributions validate what Smith has known all along, which means we may see more of Ryan’s staffers scouting a gym near you.

“I think the city of Toledo and Northwest Ohio is extremely under-recruited,” Smith said. “I think there’s a lot of talent here, and there’s a lot of kids here that could play college basketball that are overlooked.”

Altvater: Big Ten losses outside conference affect OSU title hopes

Even though Ohio State is a perfect 10-0 in 2013, the team remains No. 3 in the BCS Bowl rankings and appears to be out of the picture for an appearance in the BCS Championship game in January.

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The Buckeyes are 22-0 over the past two seasons under head coach Urban Meyer. With a career record of 127-23, Meyer has been successful at every stop. He began his collegiate head coaching career at Bowling Green State University, moved on to Utah and won two national championships at Florida in 2006 and 2008. He has yet to lose at OSU, but does not have any hardware to put in the Ohio State trophy case to prove it.

Last year the Buckeyes went 12-0 but were ineligible to play for the Big Ten championship or in the national championship game due to self-imposed sanctions and stayed home during the bowl season.

The undefeated Buckeyes are ranked behind two other undefeated teams, Alabama and Florida State.

Alabama, under head coach Nick Saban, has won the NCAA Division 1 National Championship three of the last four years. Florida State’s young quarterback Jameis Winston is all the rage among college football media and may keep Ohio State out of the national championship game again this year.

The Big Ten has an image problem. Its record in bowl games over the past several years is abysmal and when its schools play good teams outside the league early in the season, they lose.

Although Ohio State has not helped itself by playing a relatively weak nonconference schedule, three key losses by Big Ten teams early in the 2013 season have affected Ohio State’s BCS ranking.

In September, Wisconsin was ranked No. 20, but lost at Arizona State University 32-30. ASU was unranked and pulled out a win after an unusual finish at Sun Devil Stadium. With the ball on the 13-yard line the Wisconsin quarterback tried to center the ball for the winning field goal with 18 seconds remaining on the clock. Wisconsin did not have any timeouts remaining and the clock ran out before they could make the attempt.

Wisconsin has gone on to an 8-2 record losing only to Ohio State in conference play and climbed back inside the Top 25 in the nation.

Michigan State was unranked and undefeated when it lost to No. 22 Notre Dame in September. The top-ranked Spartan defense held Notre Dame to 220 yards of total offense, but several pass interference calls against the Spartan defense and an interception on a trick play proved to be the undoing for MSU.

Notre Dame won 17-14 and this is the only blemish on the season for the Spartans. The school is undefeated in the Big Ten and rebounded to the No. 16 in the BCS rankings.

Perhaps the biggest blow to Ohio State’s championship hopes has been issued by the University of Michigan. The Buckeyes have won eight of the last nine Michigan games, but Michigan is getting its revenge this season.

The Wolverines started the season strong with a win over No. 14 ranked Notre Dame. The next week, versus Mid-American Conference member Akron, UM struggled and only managed to eke out a 28-24 win.

BCS computers and voters do not look kindly on a Big Ten team that struggles to beat an inferior opponent.

Michigan struggled again the next week versus the University of Connecticut and did further damage to the image of the Big Ten.

These three games early in the season gave the perception to BCS voters that the Big Ten is not as dominant as it should be when playing outside the conference.

NCAA sanctions levied against Penn State have also hurt the league tremendously. Penn State is a perennial power in the nation. It has not been able to regain its dominance since the Jerry Sandusky affair.

For Ohio State to be appreciated by the BCS voters — and more importantly by the BCS computers — the Big Ten needs Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska, Michigan State and Wisconsin to become more competitive when playing teams outside the Big Ten.

They can begin to change the perception of the strength of the Big Ten with wins in bowl games this year. But those will be too late to affect the BCS voting for this season.

Bowl wins, however, would help to regain power status for the beleaguered Big Ten conference.

The Buckeyes would not have a problem if it was the 2014 season. The top four ranked teams will go into a playoff for the national championship next year.

Urban Meyer, Ohio State have big challenges ahead

The Ohio State Buckeyes are coming off a bye week to rest and heal before their last big push to an undefeated season. They are the only unblemished team in the Big Ten and will travel to Wisconsin Nov. 17 before facing that “team from up north” next week.

Because of NCAA and self-imposed restrictions the Buckeyes won’t be playing in the Big Ten Championship game or a BCS Bowl in 2012. The satisfaction of the undefeated season is the motivation for going the extra yard and finishing off the perfect season.

Urban Meyer has the Bucks performing at a high level. The offense is ranked No. 2 in the Big Ten, averaging 445 yards of total offense per game and they lead the conference averaging 39.9 points per game.

The Buckeye defense has experienced a couple of bumps along the road and Coach Meyer even had to switch fullback Zach Boren to linebacker to fill in for injured players.

The defense gave up 38 points to Nebraska at the Horseshoe and narrowly survived 52-49 at Indiana. The defense did buckle down in wins over Purdue, Penn State, and Illinois and is ranked No. 4 in the Big Ten.

The defense also leads the conference with 13 interceptions two of which were returned for touchdowns.

Wisconsin is 4-2 in the conference and 3-0 in the Leaders Division. They have locked up a trip to the Big Ten Championship game because Ohio State (6-0 in the conference and 4-0 in the Leaders Division) as well as, Penn State (4-2 in the conference and 2-1 in the division) are both ineligible.

This is a very large statement game for the Buckeyes. They can proclaim to the rest of the country that Wisconsin may go on to win the Big Ten, but Ohio State beat them at Camp Randall Stadium.

“The Game” against Michigan on Nov. 24 in Columbus should be one for the ages. It will be Urban Meyer’s first as head coach and, depending on the outcome at Wisconsin, could cap off the undefeated season.

Michigan is 7-3 overall, 5-1 in the Big Ten and 3-1 in the Legends Division. They are battling Nebraska for a spot in the Big Ten Championship game and the OSU game could decide their fate.

Michigan has a high-powered offense that will test the young Buckeye defense that is allowing 367 yards per game.

The Buckeye offense may also have a problem with a vastly improved Wolverine defense that is only allowing 302 yards and 18.2 points per game.

The Buckeyes have been fun to watch in 2012 as Urban Meyer has added some offense for fan enjoyment. The defense continues to be a work in progress and will have to step up big in these last two games if they plan to deliver a perfect season for Buckeye fans.